It’s official. When Wynn Las Vegas reopens its doors, they won’t be offering live poker. The property can reopen when the state hits Phase 3 of Governor Steve Sisolak’s Road to Recovery for Nevada plan.
The Wynn poker room is arguably one of the best in Las Vegas. A few years ago, Wynn moved its poker room from the main Wynn property to Encore, Wynn’s second property that’s connected to the original tower.
While management included live poker as Section 11 in their reopening document, which was released last month, the property has switched courses and opted to not open its poker room during the initial reopening phase.
The reason has to do with the Gaming Control Board’s rules of limiting live poker in Las Vegas to 4-handed play. Poker players are used to much more liquidity on the felt, and serious grinders just aren’t interested in fewer people at the tables.
Originally, Wynn outlined a number of protocols for reopening its poker room, including:
• Cleaning and sanitizing game rails, chairs, shufflers, podiums, rating units, take boxes, chips
• Staggering play so that every other table is open
• Reminding guests to sanitize their hands prior to starting play
But with plans to keep the poker room doors closed, poker players will have to wait a little while longer to experience post-pandemic poker at Wynn Las Vegas.
The news means that poker players who were hoping to play in the 2020 edition of the Wynn Summer Classic are out of luck. One of the largest summer poker events held annually in Sin City, poker players will undoubtedly turn to online for summer poker opportunities. Aria Resort and Casino recently canceled its summer offering, the Summer High Roller Series.
The World Series of Poker, which was scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 26th at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, was also postponed in late April, with a target date of Fall 2020 (exact dates to be determined). If 4-handed poker rules remain in place this year, it’s unclear how or if the series would proceed.
